49 comments:

I am not surpirsed at your story. You should also know that you are not alone and there are many many others who have been similarly treated and have recorded their ordeals for history and later prosecutions.

This does not surprise me a all. Another Fijian man by the name of Josaia Bolalailai, who is also an Australian citizen was beaten up during the x-mas break last year because the army thought he was Suli Daunitutu. He does come from Suli's village of Nailega in Tailevu.Just got news too that Felix Anthony was beaten up in the weekend resulting in one of his eardrums being busted.This terrorist organization called the RFMF is getting desperate and scared!

The once proud and world famous Fijian Army now reduced to beating defenseless old men. These acts bring great shame on all of you soldiers. You may think you look professional in your parade uniforms but underneath them it is crawling with maggots.

Is he just putting this up just to get some of his friends residential status in australia..sounds too good to me..cause most fijians that have overstayed their holiday visas in aust have applied for protection visas..unfortunately fiji does not meet the criteria cause life back here is just normal compared to other dictatorships..theres always two sides to a story..

That was the most inhumane thing to do to person like you. Those soldiers are tavioka planters from the villagers, school leavers who knows nothing about life but will kiss Bai's $2 shoe for a 10c coin just to beat up the innocent. And by the way why waste your time on Bai who does not care about anyone this days.. He has already publicly renounce his fijian way of respect n then to try to use your tauvu ways to get to him was not the wises thing to do especially when you have already voiced out your concern in the Sydney political rally regarding Fiji.. You shud have kept away from once u make a statement against his government they will be looking... Now a lesson to all the Bai family friends who wants to give him a tauvu hello.. pliz keep out of him. U i elei n why give him your nsw licensences?... But dont wori Bai and his thugs will get his pay.. i hope he walks to court ok... I pray you recouver from your injuries be blessed Mr Tawake

it saddens me that there will be thousands of young and impressionable Fijian soldiers who will have to spend the rest of their life behind bars when the day of reckoning arrives. it will not be too difficult to get a complete list of all soldiers in the army from dec 2006 to the end of the junta. what a waste of lives this stupid coup has brought on the nation.

It is rather difficult to reconcile the idiocy of people on the one hand he is berating Bainimarama’s regime and on the other he is all out to thank Bainimarama for the wonderful work his regime has undertaken there in Kadavu.

He then goes on to state after imparting his personal details to the military he had received a phone call to travel up to the camp this in itself should raise alarm bells bearing in mind he and the likes of Radio Luka were part of that ill fated march in Sydney.

But nevertheless he and his nephew made their way up to the camp and this where it becomes murky the military personal had asked him to send his nephew home surely this joker would known what the military was up too or is this just another fabrication.

Who in their right mind would use Sasa broom to beat up on a pensioner it a bit farfetched in fact his declaration is riddled with holes the size of Lake Victoria.

Like most of his anti regime bum buddies they are all story tellers who could believe such lies I suppose there are die hard who would grasp at anything to justify their existence

This old fart Apisai must be senile. What nerve to ask for a meeting with the PM when he is known to have berated the the current government. A real 'ulukau'. And his beating - with a sasa broom yet he is complaining. Pufta qase macawa.

They should be beating up Aziz and Aiyaz. They've done more damage than Apisai.But because they are "no school qanibulu", they can't tell the difference.Ni yavu sotia ulukau. Nomuni mona e tu kina na da.

We all know that people like Mr Tawake are using this tactic to get some of the overstayers in Australia get their citizenship application approved. The least Mr Tawake should have done to prove his story was get a medical report on this from one of the doctors in Fiji and post it online for all to see. Better still get a medical report from one of the government run hospitals like CWM Hospital because that cannot be disputed by the RFMF personnel. Or even better, get photos of the marks left behind by the "beatings" he got and post it online.

The Australian government is now flooded with applications from Fiji overstayers using the political situation in Fiji as an excuse or as grounds to appeal their rejected application for citizenship, PR or political asylum. I know one who is using the political problem in Fiji to get her children to Australia. She was a former SDL women's wing leader.

One of my former workmate went for a holiday to Sydney, Australia in September/October last year when he took his annual leave. He happened to be there when the FDM in Australia was organizing a rally in which they invited the SDL spokesman Mr Kinivuawai to attend as guest speaker. He mentioned people like Simi Kaitani, Tui Savu and others were there during the lead up to the rally organizing the event.

What my former workmate said was that Mr Kinivuawai refused to be the speaker and scolded these sellout Fijians Kaitani, Tui Savu, Daunitutu and others for their hypocrisy of using the political problem in Fiji for their own personal benefits in Australia. Mr Kinivuawai said if they were really genuinly concerned with the plight of Fijians back home, why are they doing it in a foreign land and are not in Fiji and do the hard yards like him? My former workmate even mentioned that these people Tui Savu, Daunitutu and other ring leaders of the FDM in Australia are making money out of this political problem by charging fees for Fijians who are applying through their network to stay in Australia.

There is a network existing through these people who are using the political problem in Fiji to get their mileage in Australia. But the worst of all was that what they are doing is further destroying Fiji's economy and it's people whether you are an indigenous Fijian or not. So even if they achieve their goal (whatever that is?) of returning Fiji to their definition of democracy and freedom, the damage they have done to Fiji will be immeasurable that, I predict, they cannot recover from for as long as Fiji exist as a country.

The path the RFMF Council is taking to remake Fiji is clearly the right path for the country in order to do well in the 21st century. We need to modernize the whole country and create a paradigm shift to get everyone think and live in the 21st century. Although the RFMF leadership took the painful task of removing the SDL by force (as some people would like to call it), it is a necessary evil.

The SDL themselves were allowed a foot in the door to lead Fiji by the RFMF leadership themselves. Their problem was they took a mile when they were supposed to work according to the mandate given by the RFMF back in 2000 when Qarase was given the opportunity to be interim PM.

In Fiji today, a lot of people knows that the pressure by Australia and New Zealand for Fiji to return to election before 2014 is nothing but a facade. It has nothing to do with democracy but to do with giving ANZ the leeway to keep dictating or controlling the Pacific island countries politics and economies. It is purely HEGEMONY.

I'm sorry Australia and New Zealand, that time is coming to an end. The days of hegemony is over. PACER Plus will be dead. The South Pacific Forum will be dead too as long as you are the proverbial giraffe.

Apisai must be senile. What nerve to ask for a meeting with the PM when he is known to have berated the current government? A real 'ulukau'. And his beating with a sasa broom - yet he is complaining.-Edited C4.5

How quick Jake and the Max are to defend their god with feet of clay. This duo operating with real military precision ... defend, defend, defend the undefendable - surely they getting fulltime pay from QEB for being such fine wordsmiths for the regime? Seven pieces of silver, perhaps?

@Max, SDL is still with you, ie Inoke Kubuabola.But now add to that Muslim Brotherhood and of course Army Mafia.Vuaka doesn't know how to handle money. He has never been able to balance the books even before the Coup ( Aziz & Aiyaz know that so they're taking advantage of it. So is everyone else.)So now Vuaka continue to kerekere from everyone including China. Now BIG DEBT for your children to pay Mr Max.

The definition of STUPIDITY is to keep following the same person and expecting a different result.

Let me make this clear, I AM NOT WORKING FOR THE RFMF OR GOVERNMENT. I work in the private sector in Fiji.

Has it never occurred to you people that the current government leadership and what the military council has set out to remake Fiji have more supporters than your brainless lot?

FYI, I am an indigenous Fijian, i-Taukei, and I support what the RFMF council and Frank Bainimarama are doing to remake Fiji and bring the country into 21st century thinking. There is no time for small minds to keep dragging this country backwards with petty racial politics. This is the time for forward thinking, allowing innovation and progressive thinking to take this country forward.

Please stop wasting your time thinking we are military personnels or paid by the military because I am not. END OF STORY.

Too right - Jake and TheMax do not even pause for breath between sucking sessions.

Worse, they have the gall to accuse an Australian Citizen of orcheastrating his own beating to gain points for asylum seekers - why? There is already plenty of evidence to support claims in Australia and NZ.

Even stranger, TheMax claims that the activities of protesters in NZ/Australia are so bad that "the damage they have done to Fiji will be immeasurable".

What about the mismanagement of the economy, political isolation of our nation, unemployment, lack of transparency and good governance, corruption and torture? No - according to TheMax, Fiji has far more to worry about protesters in Oz and NZ. Idiots.

Then they say: "I'm sorry Australia and New Zealand, that time is coming to an end... PACER Plus will be dead. The South Pacific Forum will be dead too as long as you are the proverbial giraffe." What? Do they think that Fiji can operate in isolation in the Pacific? That somehow Chinese aid will replace our national economy? Are Jake and TheMax really that stupid?

Maybe. But we have to rememeber that Jake lives a million miles away and I reckon TheMax lives at the barracks - so they don't care what happens to the rest of Fiji.

No, Fiji is not living in isolation. Fiji is restoring it's sovereignty and independence to make its own decision for the benefits of everyone without the hegemonic influence akin to the old British empire represented in this part of the world by Australia and New Zealand.

Get your head out of your ass so you are able to see something good.

The problem with you lot, the anti-Fiji/Bainimarama brainless lot, is that you think you know everything. The more you lot open your mouth, the more shit spilling out like a flooded river with a broken embankment.

Hey Max got your blood boiling, eh? But listen we 'brainless lot' know more than you give us credit for. And it's this: the Utopia touted by your beloved leader and which you've so blissfully bought into is a major con. Your '21st century thinking' is really a smokescreen for a few gorging at the table while the rest of the country pay for the benefit of watching. This military government of Frank's has yet to deliver on the promised good other than a superficial overhaul of name changes and decrees that are forcing people to live according to their flawed rules. Rules they flout in our faces. Max, what happened to you that you're so ready to fall in with the bullies? Were you ignored in the public sector, cheated out of a promotion? Do tell.

@TheMax - From your posts I can see that you think the RFMF know whats best for Fiji even going back as far as 2000 where you say the SDL should have followed what was set by the RFMF. What qualification do you people at the RFMF have that makes you think you know whats best for this country or its people? What world experience do you have to qualify yourselves to lead? Why don't you leave that to people with the brains and qualifications and take yourselves back to the camp to polish Bais boots as thats all you seem to be good at. As for you condemnation of this man who has been brutalised by the military, that just show's how brainwashed you are that you don't have any sense of right and wrong.I suggest you take a good hard look at yourself to see how low you've fallen.

This is how it works - starts with intimidation - beatings - media & judicial surpression - before you know it they'll be shooting us on the streets. Nothing new or revealing in dictatorships - military or otherwise - check their form - anywhere - any time? This form of governence is being historicly discredided right here right now. All people are saying is they want a say in their collective destiny - via their partisipation in selecting future leaders on merit - ability to unite & prosper. Prime local example being current handling of the possible crisis looming in sugar. Got lucky with Fiji Water -this one's far more complex - as is Mining - mining and small pacific Islands have history. If you are so confident in the course were currently heading - seek a mandate? Call an election -by Confederacies - Islands -Citties - anytime anywhere?Study closely Libya model - 4 years - 40 years - ending all the same.

I've read far worst postings on this blog then mine. You guys must be joking or you just publish those from your kind that are anti-Fiji/Bainimarama?

@ Anonymous February 22, 2011 12:43 PM

Qualification? You don't need qualification to lead. Your question goes to show how narrow minded you are.

Militaries around the world no longer just learn to pick a gun and shoot. They also learn how nations are destabilized, infiltrated, and destroyed economically. They also learn how to build nations up from ruins.

Remember, a military man changed the course of Fiji's history by executing a coup back in 1987 at the cunning prodding of failed politicians. He went on to become Fiji's PM.

Today, another military man is at the helm of Fiji's leadership. But this one is different because he is doing what the former leader failed to do, get down to the grassroot and upgrade their thinking to work hard and think nationally rather than individually.

“Too right - Jake and TheMax do not even pause for breath between sucking sessions”

“You certainly have a knack on how to regorge ones lunch with your vile comments jeepers’ boy I was enjoying some pan fried flounders with dalo”

“Worse, they have the gall to accuse an Australian Citizen of orchestrating his own beating to gain points for asylum seekers - why?

There is no proof he was bashed all we have is a document riddled with lies witnessed by a JP besides who gives a continental whether he is an Australian it seem the embassy staff there in Fiji weren’t kin on taking his statement for they know it was all trumped up.

He ought to be very careful filling out false statements could land him in jail for four years.

“What about the mismanagement of the economy, political isolation of our nation, unemployment, lack of transparency and good governance, corruption and torture? No - according to TheMax, Fiji has far more to worry about protesters in Oz and NZ. Idiots”

The economy of Fiji is on the up there is no such thing as political isolation in this day and age as far as transparency is concerned it’s all there for everyone to witness there is no such thing as corruption unless you were part of the Qarase’s government, torture did you say it’s all an aberration.

“Are Jake and TheMax really that stupid?”

I don’t about TheMax but I can only speak for myself and what I see I am very well conversant in the art of taking the Mickey.

"Fiji is restoring it's sovereignty and independence to make its own decision for the benefits of everyone without the hegemonic influence akin to the old British empire represented in this part of the world by Australia and New Zealand."

What are you talking about? Are you implying that no government prior to Frank's dictatorship has been independant?

Stop referring to this "white man bogeymen".

As you may be aware (or not) Fiji became a republic in 1970 - the British Empire is long dead and buried.

The Australians and NZers have no interest in starting up another empire - they have more important things to worry about other than ruling a tiny island nation in the middle of the pacific ocean - why would they do that? For the "amazing" economy and resources we have? (water/tinfish?)

Australia is its own continent - one of the most resource rich and wealthy in the world - yet you think they want to rule Fiji? The only person that wants to "rule" Fiji, is your King Frank. Try to think before you mouth off with this nonsense about OZ and NZ.

Nothing you have said excuses the military's behavior - they have no right to detain, torture and abuse their own citizens - they are meant to protect us, yet they continue to betray us.

Rubbish alegations without proof and good evidence can be treated as trevial and shelved for burial. Why didn't Mr Tawake report to the police for that matter to be investigated, why didn't he get treatment from the doctors and get certificate to prove there was a beating,oh this is shit, made up allegations suported by Australia and NZ,Those pix he is saying is not justified, it might be onother mans injuries or old injuries in Australia or else where

Die hard supporters and most probably beneficiaries of the regime are touting and showering flowery adjectives which are actually excessive use of grammar which are the same verbatim used by the regime with no definition and detailed explanation of what they mean. Like "21st Century thinking" etc. They don't mean a lot if anything if not accompanied by at least one example. Oh I get it road, bridge and electricity projects right? Isn't it the normal delivery of most governments? And at what cost would that be? Already Chinese businesses are flooding in as a reward for the loans, and leases and licenses are given in unprecedented record time, most probably bypassing normal necessary due processes.

This a perfect example of a senile pensioner that solely relies on the state that comes back to his homeland and thinks that he still has to be heard when he has given up his fiji citizenship a long time ago..and God knows how he got his australian cititzenship..through lying of course..It sounds like they are all on a campaign to convince australian immigration that fijians overstaying there could all come back to beatings and torture..thank you military for beating him with a sasa broom cause he has been a naughty boy..like thay dont beat them with hard leather in oxford street,sydney..To the pensioner i would just say ..just shut up and continue waiting for your pension week cause we in fiji dont give a hoot about what you're going on about..

Anon 12.43. You say leave things for those with qualifications and the Bai lot is not qualified...

It was left to qualifications in 1999, but allegedly Savua led coup took that away. Then qualified Qarase led IG ended up corrupting Provincial Councials by giving them free money so they can support thier new party.

Then the qualified breached democracy for 5 yaers by not following the constitution that he took oath to follow.

Then the qualified was caught pants down when it was reported that SDL benefited at the ballot from the Agri Scam.

So if this is democracy then ulukau leading is no different. "The Pacific Way"

The Max @ 10.10am, I agree with you. And add, the problem with us native Fijians is the lack of depth in realising that the very mantra of Lotu, Vanua kei na Matanitu is responsible for our poverty and hardship. That is, chiefly system , Fijian Methodism and corrupt Fijian politicians and civil servants. Corrupt leaders within these institutions all share the same trait. THEY CAPITALISE ON THE IGNORANCE, SINCERITY and TRUST OF THE POOR DOWNTRODDEN FIJIANS, FOR THEIR OWN SELFISH END. However, I'd like to add that Frank has to do the right thing by just leadership, for if Frank follows his predecessors, God will destroy him and pick another leader because God will never abandon his children who cry out for His Divine Mercy.

Anon Feb22 9:05pm - You've thrown a lot of examples and 'reports' without any proof. After 4 years with total power and access to any information there are still no convictions for all this allegations. Please use facts when you argue points and not useless 'allegedly' and 'reported'.

So much talk about the new Commissioner of Police and his capabilities. Alas he is just an ass ole, who cannot investigate these lawless acts by the military. So much for law and order and the rubbish he keeps harping about. Naivalrua is useless as Commish.